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362The ex-Duchess Auto/Lotus East USA,Jerry Crawford, Simon Hadfield1964 Lotus 30 Mk 1 Two Seater Sports RacerChassis no. 30/L/15In the early 1960s, combining a British chassis with an AmericanV8 engine proved to be a very successful method of creating acompetitive sports-racer. This trend had begun a few years earlierwith the Chevrolet-engined Listers, while the likes of Cooper and Lolaquickly followed suit.Lotus had notable success with a V8-engined Lotus 19 in 1962 and1963. This two-seater racer used a traditional and very effective tubularspace-frame chassis, but for his new Group 7 car Colin Chapmandecided to use a backbone chassis similar to the newly launched Elanroadster. It consisted of a central box-type construction, supplementedin two narrower sections at either end to support the suspension,engine and gearbox.. Chapman,at the 1964 London Racing Car Show,unveiled the Lotus 30, one of the most striking and daring of all themany racing car designs that he would produce.Like all Lotus racing cars that preceded it, the 30 benefitted fromwell considered aerodynamics. Within the very low body, all themechanicals were attached to a backbone chassis, which wasprominently visible within the cockpit.Suspension was by double wishbones all round with the rear lowerwishbones reversed. Immediately behind the driver, the chassisseparated into two spars, which supported the engine. The powerplantof choice was Ford’s 289ci (4.7-litre) V8 that was fitted to the Lotus 30sporting around 350bhp, which was transmitted to the wheels via asturdy ZF five-speed transaxle.With its slippery body, 350bhp and a kerb weight of less than 700kg(1,540lb), the Lotus 30 looked to set to become a dazzling success.The first car was sent to Ian Walker together with Team Lotus’s No.1 driver, Jim Clark. who managed to finish in 2nd place on its debut.Subject to some teething issues, Chapman continued developmentand by the end of the 1964 season the works Lotus 30 had undergoneconsiderable development, and in the important Los Angeles TimesGrand Prix at Riverside, California, Clark finished in a storming 3rdplace overall.272 | Goodwood festival of speed